After governor issues pardons, 2 brothers look to return to normal lives after years in prison

RALEIGH, N.C. – Two brothers will receive more than $1 million from the state of North Carolina after they were wrongfully imprisoned for the killing of an 11-year-old girl, but for one of them, the windfall isn't the issue.

Fifty-one-year-old Henry McCollum says the important thing is that he and brother Leon Brown have been found innocent.

He says it is a blessing to be free and living a normal life.

The pardon qualifies each of the brothers for $50,000 from the state for every year they were imprisoned, with a limit of $750,000 each. The compensation still needs to be approved by a state agency, but it is considered a formality. It's not clear exactly when they could get the money.